Archive for Marketing Stuff
July 4, 2008 at 10:46 pm · Filed under Marketing Stuff
How do you get the most out of your list?
We all know that a lot of marketing is done to a list but, say you have a sizable list. Now what?
Once you have a list of any size built-up, you must start broadcasting to it. This is important for a couple of reasons;
1. You have to realize that a good percentage of your list will have people that are new to marketing on it. You might think of these subscribers as being in a kind of stasis–they’re really just checking things out. So one purpose of broadcasting is to stir up some interest or excitement among these new-comers.
One good way to do this is with contests. For example a friend of mine had a referral contest and the prize was $200.00 cash. The great thing about this contest was that, even if you didn’t win, you still got a lot of really great free things for signing-up, and it was free also.
2. You will make many more sales and sign-ups with your broadcasts.
Don’t broadcast more than about once a week, but do broadcast. One week, give away freebies, or have a contest or business tips, the next week advertise. Be charming and entertaining. Use some flare, to have a more distinct personality and stand out from the crowd of faceless form letters!
Remember, if you don’t broadcast to your list and keep it active, your list may soon shrink to nada.
Copyright 2005 Brian Beshore
Brian Beshore is an Internet Marketer and professional copywriter for Article Insider.
He is the creator of the Become Your Own Boss Program;
http://www.surfinsafari.net
June 24, 2008 at 9:24 pm · Filed under Marketing Stuff
Women make or influence 85% of the purchasing decisions in
today’s marketplace. Consumer goods companies are finally waking up to that fact. Unfortunately, just taking the man off the box and replacing it with a woman is not the answer. Nor is it to use pink or other traditionally feminine colors for the packaging.
So what product packaging appeals to women? What will entice her to pick your product off the shelf? What siren screams, “Buy me” as she walks down the aisle? The answers are different than you might think.
First, you need to connect with her on an intrinsic level. Do you understand why she is making the purchase? Alternatively, you need to know where she will be shopping. One thing is for sure, she will be in a hurry. Today’s women are over worked, time crunched, and busy multi-tasking. How are you going to help her make an informed purchasing decision?
When she comes to buy, she will dedicate about 2.6 seconds to the decision. (70% of purchases are in store, instantaneous
decisions). So what will make her pick your product off the
shelf?
We all know color is a big influencer when it comes to making a
product purchasing decision. However, what color will appeal to
her? Besides its success in the well-established “Think Pink”
campaign for breast cancer, pink is one of the least preferred
colors in product packaging. Blue ranks as women’s the number one choice followed closely by red.
Does your packaging clearly illustrate the benefits driven
product statement? Remember, she is in a hurry. Your package should scream the product’s benefits. Convince her quickly that your product will simplify her life while being easy to use. Ease of use ranks high among female-friendly attributes along with simplicity of instructions. Keep away from engineering benefits driven statements. She doesn’t really care how the product works as long as it works effectively and every time.
What about the size of the package? Products in general are
evolving to smaller sizes. Our lifestyle mandates that products
are easily consumed in a short period or that they are easily
handled and storable. She will pay a premium for it too if you
can convince her it’s worth it.
As you design product packaging to target purchasing’s number one decision maker, stay true to ways to make her life easier,
simplified, and more efficient.
For more insights on how to package products she will buy, don’t miss the Packaging Diva @ the IIR Annual Marketing to Women Conference.
For more details, email JoAnn Hines the Packaging Diva at
packagingdiva@aol.com or visit
http://www.iir-ny.com/women/index.cfm/Link=9/goSection=1
Got packaging problems? I can help. I teach people how to package products consumers will buy. Get advice from the top expert in consumer packaging and have your packaging problems solved like magic. Email the packaging Diva @ PackagingDiva@aol.com
June 3, 2008 at 4:50 am · Filed under Marketing Stuff
Selecting the correct keywords can make or break your website. Potential customers search the web for desired sites, and if your website doesn’t have the keywords they’re looking for, they’ll miss you.
Determining keywords is an art; it’s best to work backwards. What would a customer search for if they were looking for your site? You literally have to put yourself in the consumer’s place and let go of your preconceived notions about what you think your keywords are. You should remember when writing your site that you need to use words that are not only related to your content, but are popular search words as well. This is called keyword optimization, or choosing the most searched keywords related to your content.
Spend some time listing all of the words and phrases that are related to your website content. Get ideas from everyone you can think of and list them all. Visit competitors’ sites and see what meta tags they use. After this research, you are ready to develop your own keyword phrases.
There are several sites designed to assist you in keyword optimization. Here are a few of the free ones:-
The Overture Keyword Tool (http://www.inventory.overture.com ) lists searches related to the keyword you provide. This took is great for expanding your list.
Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) helps identify keywords that will help your ranking on search engines. Wordtracker also gives you other keyword combinations that you may have overlooked.
The Keyword Tumbler (http://www.keywordtumbler.com) takes your existing keyword phrases and mixes it up to form new phrases and variations that you can include in your meta tags.
A great website is not so great if no one finds it. Remember to research your keywords carefully from the consumer’s viewpoint and then sit back and watch the traffic roll in!
Evelyn Lim publishes a free newsletter on article marketing and other online business tips. With a financial background, she also aims to teach home based business owners skills to analyse and acquire multiple sources of online income. To subscribe to her newsletter, please visit http://www.e-BizMap.com
May 31, 2008 at 10:43 pm · Filed under Marketing Stuff
Birkenstocks are a German brand of quality footwear, which is best known for it’s contoured footbed. When most people purchase a new pair of shoes, they expect to have a ‘break-in’ time. This usually lasts for a few days and, at that time, the shoe is pretty comfortable and broken in for everyday wear. The main difference with Birkenstocks is that they approach the ‘break-in’ time much differently. When a pair of Birkenstocks are first purchased, they are more stiff than commercial brand news. After several weeks of wear, the shoe literally molds to the wearer’s foot. This creates an actual customized shoe that is designed around the wearer. Think of your foot as being a candy mold and Birkenstocks as the candy. The Birkenstocks will mold to every detail of your foot to create an exact design, which will fit perfectly everyday.
As is the case with any company, Birkenstocks weren’t always as well known as they are today. In 1897, a man by the name of Konrad Birkenstock developed a theory that would change the world of footwear forever. He believed that if the shape of a shoe were to reflect the exact shape of the foot, improved comfort would be inevitable. Soon after, he designed the first shoe to feature a contoured insole to be used in custom footwear.
Nearly 70 years later while on a trip to Germany, Margot Fraser grew tired of walking and sought relief from her uncomfortable shoes. While at the spa, someone suggested that she try Birkenstocks. In addition to finding immediate comfort, several months after returning home to California, she found that her chronic foot pain had finally ended after years of suffering. Convinced it was the Birkenstocks that relieved her pain, she began importing the German-made footwear into America. This began the Birkenstock Distribution USA, Inc. franchise in California. In 2006, after 40 years of success, Birkenstock celebrates a milestone anniversary after four decades of success in America.
The Birkenstocks footwear line includes footwear for men, women and children. A quality collection of sandals, clogs and other shoes are readily available from the Birkenstocks line. In addition, socks and insoles are available as separate purchases for anyone who wants to experience the true Birkenstocks comfort. With more than 100 employees, 1,800 retail accounts and years of success behind them, Birkenstock USA is poised to continue providing custom footwear for years to come.
To get more facts about birkenstocks, check out our website at www.maposa.com for lots of free birkenstocks information and reviews.
April 12, 2008 at 3:34 pm · Filed under Marketing Stuff
One of the most popular forms of Internet advertising is pay-per-click (PPC). Merchants place ads with search engines like Google or MSN and the ad appears whenever someone enters a relevant search.
If the ad is clicked the merchant pays a fee - anywhere from 5 cents to $100. It’s a fabulous idea - ad campaigns targeted at your most likely customers.
It’s such a fabulous idea that Google, the king of PPC, grossed $1.24 billion in the first 3 months of this year - most of it from advertising revenue.
Watch out, though. There’s trouble in PPC land. The flip side to PPC is a phenomenon called “click fraud” or “click spam.”
There are two types of click fraud. The first type occurs when someone maliciously clicks on your PPC ad to drive up your advertising costs. It could be a competitor or a disgruntled former employee.
The second type of fraud involves clicking on affiliate ads to generate income. Affiliate ads are placed on third party web sites and each time someone clicks on an affiliate ad the web site owner receives a commission.
Industry observers believe that affiliate click fraud is the biggest problem of the two. Either way, the result is the same - advertising budget depletion with little gain for the merchant.
Either type of click fraud can be accomplished with the use of automated “robots” or by hiring an army of workers. The India Times reported in 2004 that a “growing number of housewives, college graduates, and even working professionals across metropolitan cities are rushing to click paid Internet ads to make $100 to $200 per month.”
How serious is the problem? It’s hard to judge exactly, but click fraud is commonly estimated at 20% to 35% of all PPC ad campaigns.
A recently launched lawsuit alleges that Google is aware of the magnitude of click fraud and does not do enough to alert advertisers of the problem.
The class action suit launched by Click Defence says that “Google has an inherent conflict of interest in preventing click fraud since it derives the same amount of income from each fraudulent click as it does from each legitimate click.”
The $10 million lawsuit quotes Google Chief Financial Officer George Reyes as saying that click fraud is “the biggest threat to the Internet economy.”
Click Defense is a Colorado company specializing in click fraud detection. They claim that they themselves became a victim of click fraud when they advertised with Google’s Adwords program this year.
They are seeking damages for breach of contract, negligence, unjust enrichment, and unfair business practices.
A Google spokesman said that the case is unmerited and that Google will defend itself “vigorously.”
About the author:
Copyright 2005 by Ross MacIver
This article may be redistributed freely on the Internet or in ezines as long as the resource box and hyperlinks remain intact.
Ross MacIver is the director of Best Online Content. We provide quality content for your web site and offer a full range of design and SEO services.
